{"id":163062,"date":"2026-09-09T13:55:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T13:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/163062\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T13:55:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T13:55:14","slug":"why-royal-women-were-obliged-to-wear-veils-to-king-haralds-funeral-in-oslo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/163062\/","title":{"rendered":"Why royal women were obliged to wear veils to King Harald’s funeral in Oslo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Royal family members from across Europe turned out in force to remember King Harald<\/a> at his state funeral<\/a> on Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Prince William and Princess Anne<\/a> led the arrivals at Oslo Cathedral following a funeral procession from the palace to honour the late Norwegian King, who passed away on 28 August, aged 89.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They followed a strict dress code, with Harald’s widow, Queen Sonja, 89, wearing a traditional black lace mourning veil to shield her face.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Queen Mette-Marit, 53, Harald’s daughter-in-law, and Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra<\/a>, 22, his granddaughter, wore subtle netted veils over their faces.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Queen\u00a9 AFP via Getty ImagesQueen Sonja of Norway wore a mourning veil<\/p>\n

Queen Mary<\/a> of Denmark and Princess Charlene<\/a> of Monaco were also spotted wearing an elegant take on the mourning veil<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Following King Harald’s passing, his son Haakon has become King, while Mette-Marit is now the Queen Consort of Norway.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Princess Ingrid is now heir to the throne, with Prince Sverre Magnus, 20, second in line.<\/p>\n

WATCH: Prince William and Princess Anne follow behind King Harald’s funeral<\/p>\n

Why are mourning veils worn at funerals, and are they obligatory?<\/p>\n

Though they are not obligatory, royal women traditionally wear black mourning veils at the funeral of a sovereign.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They are both symbolic and practical, as a sign of respect and to shield the wearer from public scrutiny.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"King\u00a9 POOL\/AFP via Getty ImagesMette-Marit also wore a netted veil attached to her hat<\/p>\n

Typically, they are made from lace, tulle, or fine netting material, meaning the wearer can still see through them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The long-standing tradition was made famous when Queen Victoria spent 40 years wearing black as a tribute to her late husband, Prince Albert.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Queen\u00a9 Getty ImagesQueen Mary looked regal in her respectful ensemble<\/p>\n

Following in her footsteps, the late Princess Diana<\/a> was seen wearing a black veil at Grace Kelly’s funeral in 1982, while Princess Kate wore a veil at the funerals of Prince Philip and the late Queen, in 2021 and 2022 respectively.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Often, the veil doesn’t cover the full face and is attached to the wearer via a headband or a hat.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Princess\u00a9 Mirrorpix via Getty ImagesPrincess Diana wore a veil at Grace Kelly’s funeral in 1982<\/p>\n

Danielle Stacey, HELLO!’s Royal Correspondent, explained previously: “Dressing head-to-toe in black is typically reserved for funerals and remembrance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Coincidentally, a black outfit is an essential item when all royals travel overseas, so that they are appropriately dressed in the event of a family death when they are abroad.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

The dress code at a royal funeral abroad<\/p>\n

Marta Callejo, image consultant and protocol expert, told HELLO!’s sister publication, HOLA! how British and Norwegian mourning can differ.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“At a royal funeral, the protocol doesn’t aim to highlight the person following it, but rather to build a collective image, fundamentally one of respect,” Marta explained.<\/p>\n

“I think that, nowadays, we could say that protocol doesn’t consist of applying a list of prohibitions, but rather in understanding what each ceremony needs and adapting our image to it.”<\/p>\n

\"Prince\u00a9 Getty ImagesPrince William did not wear military uniform<\/p>\n

“The goal is not to draw attention with black, but to visually disappear behind the meaning of the act,” he points out.<\/p>\n

It means an array of simple silhouettes, structured coats, dresses, or suits with clean lines are often on display.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Other royal funeral dress traditions include wearing black and, for those who hold a military rank, wearing a uniform.<\/p>\n

Prince William, however, did not wear uniform at King Harald’s funeral as he does not have the Order of St Olav.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Who is attending King Harald’s funeral?<\/p>\n

Prince William is attending in an official capacity to represent his father, King Charles III. Meanwhile, Princess Anne<\/a> made a “personal” appearance, as she is godmother to the new King Haakon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Norwegian monarchy, including Queen Sonja, King Haakon, and Queen Mette-Marit, is attending the service before appearing on the royal balcony.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"KingKing Harald of Norway’s funeral is taking place on Wednesday<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, representatives from the Swedish, Danish, and Dutch royal houses are among those attending from the European royal houses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Queen Margrethe of Denmark is one royal who isn’t attending, however, as she was taken to hospital over the weekend due to a blood clot and dehydration.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Palace announced that the 86-year-old will be spending time away from the spotlight to recover and would no longer be travelling to Norway for the funeral.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Royal family members from across Europe turned out in force to remember King Harald at his state funeral…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163063,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[85],"tags":[2113,73098,27097,157,16603,156,73970,2112],"class_list":["post-163062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oslo","tag-european-royals","tag-king-haakon","tag-king-harald","tag-norway","tag-norwegian-royals","tag-oslo","tag-queen-mette-marit","tag-royalty"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/117241428898540496","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}